Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler Lead Warriors Past Grizzlies Into Playoffs

SAN FRANCISCO — With just 3.4 seconds remaining on the clock, Stephen Curry raised his arms, calling on the roaring Chase Center crowd to rise with him. The Golden State Warriors had finally done it — they were leaving the NBA play-in tournament behind and heading back to the postseason.

Curry dropped 37 points, while Jimmy Butler turned in his best performance as a Warrior, scoring a team-high 38 points to carry Golden State past the Memphis Grizzlies in a 121-116 thriller on Tuesday night.

“Just a sense of relief that we have something to look forward to now,” Curry said after the game, his team finally escaping their play-in woes.

The victory marked Golden State’s first win in four all-time play-in attempts. It also sealed the Western Conference’s seventh seed for the Warriors, setting up a highly anticipated first-round series against the second-seeded Houston Rockets.

“We desperately needed to win this game and get four days [off],” head coach Steve Kerr said. “Our guys have basically been playing knockout games for about three weeks. One high-level game after another. It took 83 games, but now we’re back in the playoffs — and that’s where we want to be.”

Golden State’s upcoming matchup with Houston adds another chapter to a storied rivalry. This will be the fifth postseason series between the two franchises, with the Warriors victorious in all four previous encounters from 2015 to 2019, including two high-stakes Western Conference Finals.

“I was just telling Draymond [Green], ‘It’s wild,’” Curry said. “We’ve played Houston in the playoffs for a decade. I know this is a different Rockets team, but we’re excited for the challenge.”

Golden State edged Houston 3-2 during the regular season, though the Rockets claimed the in-season NBA Cup matchup in December and won again at Chase Center on April 6 — a game that capped a brutal six-day stretch for the Warriors.

Since then, Butler has elevated his play to another level. In back-to-back playoff-caliber showdowns against the Clippers and the Grizzlies, he has combined for 68 points, shooting a consistent 12-of-20 from the floor in both contests.

On Tuesday, Butler helped Golden State build a 20-point lead by the second quarter. But Memphis stormed back, taking a 96-94 lead early in the fourth. Desmond Bane led the Grizzlies with 30 points, while Ja Morant added 22 despite briefly exiting the game with an ankle injury.

Curry answered in MVP fashion, scoring 15 of his 37 points in the final seven minutes, including a pair of clutch three-pointers within 50 seconds to close out the game.

The win not only signaled Golden State’s return to playoff form but also highlighted the transformation sparked by Butler’s midseason arrival. Since the Warriors were sitting at 25-26 on February 6, Butler has injected life into the team, reigniting the energy of Curry, Green, and Kerr alike.

“Whenever I talked to Steph, Dray, Steve, and Mike [Dunleavy Jr.] before I got here, I told them I could help,” Butler said postgame. “Now, I didn’t know how — but I believed it. And now we’re in the playoffs. I feel like I can give this team, for sure this one, a real chance to win.”

Game 1 of the first-round playoff series tips off Sunday in Houston, with Curry and Butler leading the Warriors into what promises to be a hard-fought showdown.